Before all the Calamity
by SleepytimeTea
Summary: A series of events that could have taken place before the manga started. Does not affect the plot in any way. Kind of Rima x Shiki
1. Prologue: Day and Night

**Hi. I just started using this site, so it'll take some time for me to get used to it, but I'll try and update regularly. ^_^ **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight.**

**Everything in this story is also a work of fiction, and so it does not have any correlation with with real people, places, or etc.**

* * *

"Kyaaa!" Wild screams of the day girls started as the handsome Night Class members piled out at sunset; the usual routine, the air filling with shrieks of "Kuran-sempai!", "Idol-sempai!", "Wild Sempai!", and other endearments. The school prefect, Cross Yuuki darted forward, as usual, to block the fans from engulfing the Night class. Yuuki winced as the girls tried to push through her to them. Shoot, I failed to make them go back to their dorms before the Night Class came, Yuuki thought. These girls really are becoming a handful. Not that she couldn't understand their feelings. The Night class was comprised of extremely talented, and not to mention gorgeous people, after all, although the fact that they were all vampires was kept staunchly a secret. Yuuki looked around as she tried to stop the horde of fans. Just where is Zero? If he was late…

"Kya!" Yuuki cried out as the horde overwhelmed her like a bursting bubble, and she fell to the ground. Uh-oh. The girls ran, dispersing around the Night class, who stopped, waiting for the path to clear.

"Are you all right, Yuuki?" A voice rang out, and all eyes went to the speaker. There was not one student looking at another direction than that of Kuran Kaname, the Dorm leader of the Night class. He beckoned his hand to Yuuki, who blushed.

"Uh,...! Thank you, sempai." She said, quickly standing up. Kaname merely smiled. Yuuki blushed yet again, but this time said loudly to the Day class girls,

"Please return to your dorms! The time of curfew has already passed!" This warning was not to be met with obedience. Protests and complaints rang out.

"Why do we have to listen to you? Just because you're a prefect doesn't mean you have the right to boss us around!" A girl shouted, others agreeing.

"Because she's a prefect she has the right." Kiryuu Zero softly said in his menacing voice, causing the girl to freeze in fear. He scowled. "Now if you understand that, disappear!" The fans, as if being repelled, backed away. Yuuki saw her chance.

"I'm terribly sorry for the delay today; we have made you late for class." She apologized, as she made a way for the Night class to walk through.

"Not at all, Yuuki." Kaname said gently, leading the Night class out of the fray. Yuuki blushed yet again, bowing, as many glances came from the Night class. Most of them had looked bored during the fray, but since their leader showed interest to this human girl, there must be something about her. When they were out of sight, the crowd began to disperse, until Yuuki and Zero were left alone. Zero turned away.

"It's annoying." Zero spat. "Every single day, why do we have to act like bodyguards who protect them from paparazzi?"

"Zero," Yuuki said warningly. "You know, I don't think you have any right to talk, coming here late!" She punched him in the stomach. She needed to lighten the mood.

"What the-" Zero said, surprised. "I'll get you for this." Yuuki stuck out her tongue.

"Oh really?" She asked, teasing. "Then just try to! I'm off patrolling!" She called as she darted off in the direction of the Day class dorms.

Yuuki chuckled as she heard Zero's "OI!", then her expression turned serious. Really, Zero's been getting more and more on edge. She probably didn't have the faintest idea of the hate Zero harbored towards vampires, but was it something that was unquenchable? Can that hatred never disappear, or will it rankle Zero forever? Yuuki did not know the answer.

* * *

"-really, the Day Class girls are becoming a bit much," Ruka Souen, one of the prominent students of the Night Class, complained as she braided her long, chestnut hair during recess in an empty classroom. She looked at her friends and classmates for support. "Don't you think so?" They looked at her in surprise. Aidou Hanabusa, one of her childhood friends, spoke first.

"Well, I don't mind, as long as Kaname-sama doesn't mind," He said, then grinned. "And besides, it's fun, toying with their emotions. Their reactions are so predictable." His comment caused silence to linger after them until his cousin, Akatsuki Kain, broke it.

"… I don't mind either. We're to be above those kinds of things, Ruka." He said, leaning against the wall, then looked at his frivolous cousin. "But Hanabusa, I don't think Dorm Leader Kuran would be very pleased if you go about talking about the Day class girls as if they are your personal entertainers."

"Wha-" Aidou burst out, trying to correct himself. "That's not- I mean, I'm just bored, and-"

Ruka snickered. Rima and Shiki looked on, amused.

"Really, they suit you, Hanabusa," she interrupted, smiling. Aidou's mouth opened in irritation, and froze that way.

"Ah. Aidou-san, if you don't close your mouth a bug might go in…" Shiki Senri commented. Aidou covered his mouth quickly, much to Rima's amusement. When it quieted down again, Ruka tapped her finger on the desk she was sitting on, becoming pensive, and whispered, "But true, I suppose if Kaname-sama doesn't mind, I should endure it…" The atmosphere turned solemn again. Akatsuki looked at her thoughtfully, as Aidou fiddled with a book.

"Heeeey you guys!" The Vice-president, Ichijou Takuma called to them from the hallway cheerfully. "Recess is over, you know! You should head to your next classes!" They all looked up, and headed out the door.

"Just one more class. So tiring." Shiki mumbled as he followed.

"This is school, you know, Shiki." Ruka chided. Shiki ignored her, accidentally bumping into Rima. Shiki apologized reservedly, which Rima responded to by stepping on his toe. "And what are you talking about; we have four more classes before the end of the night, not one."

"And please don't skip, Shiki," Ichijou warned.

"Ah, Ichijou-san," Shiki said. "I'm not skipping. I have work."

"Oh yes, that's right. Rima, you also have work today, right?" Ichijou asked.

"It's scheduled later than Shiki's." Rima answered, still stepping on Shiki's toe.

"I think you've gotten your revenge already, you might want to stop before Shiki's toe becomes deformed." Ichijou chided, smiling.

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**Please review! All comments are welcome!**


	2. Photoshoot

**Yay! Me, being the awkward person I am, couldn't figure out how to view reviews and was on here clicking for hours trying to figure it out. But I figured it out. Thank you so very much for your reviews! Appreciated them!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight. All rights go to Hino Matsuri.**

**Everything in this story is also a work of fiction, and so it does not have any correlation with with real people, places, or etc.**

* * *

Rima expelled an inaudible sigh of fatigue as the car dropped her off in front of the Night class dorm. Her eyebrow twitched in annoyance. That photographer, coming late, and then ordering that she stay late to make up for his mistake. She looked up. It was so late; the sun was already up, shining as if to boast. She closed her eyes, but the brightness would not fade, even with her umbrella. The rest of the Night class had probably gone back to the dorms by now. She opened the door quietly, and walked in, ready to collapse onto the couch in the lobby. To add to her annoyance, someone was already sitting there, sleeping.

"Shiki," She said in a low voice, shaking him gently. "Wake up, and sleep in your room." Shiki did not wake, but snuggled into the arm of the couch. Rima looked at him, and let out another wisp of air from her mouth. Then she sat down beside him, taking a pillow into her lap and hugging it. Within minutes she, too, fell asleep.

* * *

"What are they doing, sleeping here?" Aidou asked himself, puzzled, seeing Rima and Shiki, as he came out of his dorm in hopes of reading a book in the lobby. Seriously, what are they doing? He asked himself once more, as he sat on the couch across from theirs and staring. Couldn't they sleep at their respective rooms?

"Oh, hi Aidou," Ichijou said, walking in, causing Aidou to flinch in surprise. Ichijou carried two blankets with him.

"Uh, hello." Aidou replied, bewildered, "Um, assistant dorm leader, what are those for?" He indicated the two blankets Ichijou had.

"Oh, these?" Ichijou smiled, and pointed to Rima and Shiki sleeping on the couch.

"You're actually going to let them sleep here?" Aidou cried, incredulous, his voice rising. Ichijou shushed him. Aidou lowered his voice, then added, "I mean, is this even allowed? This is a school, assistant dorm leader."

"Hmmm. Probably," Ichijou said, grinning. "Anyway, Shiki and Rima are still young, so it's ok." Aidou, rattled by the assistant dorm leader's nonchalant take to this, wondered whether that was the problem here.

"Yup, they're the youngest of all of us," Ichijou repeated, his expression turning serious. "Even though they probably are the most mature of all of us. So," His expression turned into a grin as he placed the blankets on them. "This is okay. We have to let them have fond memories." Aidou listened to him, confused, as he tried to figure out what Ichijou was trying to say, then gave up as Ichijou said, with the air of a parent chiding a child,

"Oh, speaking of them, you should get to sleep too, Aidou. Staying up late reading books isn't good for your health!"

"Uh, Ok, I'm going. You should sleep too, assistant dorm leader."Aidou said, slightly baffled as he left. Outside, beyond the tightly curtained windows of the Night class dorms, clouds began to form, covering the sun, which had shined so triumphantly before, giving a off a gray-white light. Little by little, the sky darkened, clouds of shades of gray and white quietly, like poison, conquering what was a blue sky moments ago. Thunder began to rumble, and the clouds released tiny droplets, which in turn dove down to earth.

* * *

"Oh, it's raining." Wakaba Sayori commented, looking out of the window as she and Cross Yuuki walked to their next class. "And it was so nice before… oh yes, Yuuki, as I was saying, are you ok?"

"Ahhh…" Yuuki groaned. "Yori-chan, I received detention! I just got into high school, and I already have detention!"

"Don't you think that's expected when you sleep during class because you choose to stay up all night? Really…but don't worry, you won't be lonely without me, there'll be company."

"Humph, some company! Zero's the only other person with me!" Yuuki made a face.

"But you two get along, so it's ok." Sayori said matter-of factly, as if that settled the matter. Yuuki opened her mouth to protest when there was a spark, and thunder lashed through the air with a large _Boom._

"W-wow. Yori-chan, we'd better get to class fast. I think it's going to pour." They hurried, and soon enough, Yuuki's prediction became true. Following the thunder, droplets of rain came down, multiplying by thousands as time passed.

* * *

Shiki woke to the sound of rain. He looked over to the wall, at the clock. 12 o'clock. It was still day. He was on the lobby couch, covered by a blanket. Rima was asleep beside him. Ah, that was right; he had fallen asleep after getting back. He dazed off idly into air.

"Shi..ki?"Rima sat up sleepily. Shiki glanced at her."What time is…it?" She looked at the blanket covering her as well.

"Twelve. Ichijou-san must have covered us with the blankets." Shiki replied. "There's still some time before our next job." Rima nodded. Shiki did not ignore the slight twitch of her eyelashes as she did so.

"...Rima? Was the job tiring?" Rima did not answer his question, but replied,

"How about you, Shiki?" Shiki tilted his head a little.

"The same. The model they partnered me with was second-rate." _Plunk. Plunk. _The sounds of raindrops could be heard as Shiki's mind drifted off. "...What time is our next shoot?"

"…"Rima pondered. "… I don't know. Manager-san said she'd pick us up at one."

"…" Shiki dazed off again. Silence surrounded them. At the sound of footsteps, they looked up. It was a maid. She was holding a letter on a platter. Shiki leaned his had against the couch and stared curiously at the platter.

"Ne, what's that?" The maid turned to look at him and smiled.

"Shiki-san, it's a letter from the Council. For Ichijou-sama."

"Ah,… I'll take it. Thank you." Shiki replied, taking it and opening it as the maid bowed and left. His eyes roamed over the paper, Rima leaning in to read it.

"Another order?" Rima asked irritatedly, exhaling. "Well, I guess it's alright, considering tomorrow's Saturday…" Shiki said nothing, staring at the letter and twirling it between his fingertips. Time passed on the clock, although the rain made it seem longer.

"Ne Shiki," Rima said finally, watching. Shiki looked at her. He was still sleepy. "It's twelve thirty." Shiki looked over at the clock. He nodded.

"Then we should start getting ready…" Shiki's voice drawled. Twenty minutes later they were showered and ready, in their manager's car as the rain poured outside.

* * *

"Ok!" Their manager said expertly, looking over their schedules. "We have two jobs today, one for the clothing industry of 'Cloud' at 2:30, which you will do separately and one for the cover page of the monthly magazine at 8:00, which you will do together. Rima, for the first job you'll go to room 203; Shiki, you will go to room 307. Understood?" Rima and Shiki both nodded.

"Manager-san," Shiki said, watching the rain. "Rima and I have some business at a house on Mason Street today, so can you take us there?" Their manager sighed.

"Okay, I'll take you between your two jobs. But once you're done with whatever you're doing there, please call me so we can go to the next job, understood? And Shiki-kun, do you have an umbrella?"

"Ah." Shiki said. He'd forgotten his. Their manager sighed yet again. "Ok then, please share Rima's umbrella, you will get soaked in the rain!"

"…ehh.." Rima said reluctantly. Shiki nodded. The car pulled up by the agency building.

"Ok, we're here. Remember, Rima, you go to room 203, Shiki, you go to room 307! I will come to check on you two soon, so please go there!" Rima and Shiki silently went out of the car, into the pouring rain outside.

"So tiring…"Shiki said. Rima said nothing as they stepped into the building. It was the usual routine. Rima and Shiki separated at the second floor, when Rima went to the her designated room. She glanced at the clock, and sighed, sitting down on the waiting bench. She was still early by five minutes. As it was fall, the theme for today was probably something connected to that.

_Kchak._ The door opened, letting in a blast of perfumed air. Rima said nothing. It revealed two women, the younger of the two wearing an expensive one piece, lined with fur at the neck and wrists, followed by the other, who was wearing a business suit. The younger girl looked over Rima, who had worn a black sweater over a red collared shirt with a matching skirt, and smiled widely.

"Oh, you're Rima-chan, aren't you? The one paired with Shiki-kun?" She threw her body forward, grinning. Rima said nothing.

"Oopsie, I'm sorry," The girl giggled, and tapping her forehead. "I should introduce myself first. My name is Nana! I'm pretty popular, I guess, but not as much as you." She sat down next to Rima, cocking her head and leaning towards Rima. Rima tried with difficulty to ignore the stench of perfume emanating from her. Her keen vampire nose did not help either.

"…nice to meet you." Rima said, expressionless. Nana smiled.

"Just as I thought, Rima-chan! You're so careful and poised, like a pro model! So, I heard from Karin-chan, you know, she's pretty famous for modeling for 'Cherry', that you are paired with Shiki-kun."

"…"Rima said nothing. Nana sat down, moving her face close to Rima's.

"Sooo?" She asked. Rima turned to look at her, her eyes showing nothing.

"What?"

"What's Shiki-kun like?" Rima said nothing. Presently the director and photographer came in, half drenched in rain.

"Hey everyone, sorry for the delay, let's get started right away! Can Nana-chan and Rima-chan stand over here, please? I will explain the theme of today's shoot." Rima stood up to go, when Nana also stood up, and grabbed Rima's shoulder.

"Just tell me now. After this, the director's going to have us busy, and this is the only time. What's Shiki-kun like?" Rima looked at her again, her blue eyes betraying nothing.

"…If you want to know about him so badly, why not ask Shiki himself?" Rima said, brushing Nana's hands off her, and walking off, blowing air lightly out of her mouth in annoyance. What a hassle. She had to work with a flirt who wore so much perfume that it was sickening. Rima narrowed her eyes slightly. Shiki better not be having a relaxing time at his job, especially when she was having such a hard time because of him.

* * *

Contrary to Rima's thoughts, however, Shiki was not having a relaxing time. He was still tired from not having enough sleep, and the job was tiring. One of the models he was working with was too energetic, which was a problem when the director wanted the fall theme to be 'Cool as the Passing Breeze', or something like that. He wanted it to be over so he could be with Rima. He and the other models were positioned on a bench in the middle of a would-be park in fall, with leaves still falling and a background of trees. They were supposed to be in the middle of doing something, and then looking at the camera as if someone came that caught their eye. Shiki was sitting on the bench, with a dark green hoodie worn over a t-shirt, which was a lighter shade. His task was to be reading a book until the director said 'go', and then look up at the camera. He couldn't imagine who would have the power could catch his eye, so he imagined Rima and Ichijou-san walking towards him when the director said 'go'. The other models did not make much mistakes, but this one model, who had rather long hair, and sat by him, kept grinning and making up his own pose when the director said 'go'(they introduced themselves in the beginning, but Shiki didn't remember). That was all very fine if it were a photo focused on him, but it kept ruining the image (according to the director). Of course, Shiki did not care about any of this, but wanted it to end as fast as possible, so he paid attention. Ah, it was now break time. Shiki went to Manager-san to go eat some chocolate.

"Thank you." He said, and started to eat it slowly. Manager-san was looking at him, irritated.

"Yes?" At this, she sighed.

"Shiki-kun, I know you don't like modeling with other models besides Rima, but at least make an effort to interact with them." Then she added, "It's good experience." Shiki didn't really think so, much less want to do it, but she was probably going to nag him about it if he didn't do it.

"Ye-es." He said, with the chocolate still in his mouth. He headed over to the benches where the other models were talking with each other. For some reason, they became quiet when he came and plopped himself down by them. They glanced at him, but when they noticed that he stared back at them, they looked quickly somewhere else.

"Hello!" Ah. It was The Smiley Person who kept messing up the shoot. He walked over to Shiki, and sat next to him. "So you're the famous Shiki they were talking about. You remember me, I'm Katsura."

"..Nice to meet you." Shiki said, munching on his chocolate bar. The only thing that registered in Shiki's mind was that he was The Smiley Person, and that he put too much perfume on.

"I heard that you model as pairs with a girl called Rima." The Smiley Person said, trying to make conversation. He smiled dreamily. "I'm a fan of her. She's so beautiful… Hey, can you introduce me sometime?"

"…" Shiki did not answer.

"Alright, break is over!" The director called. "Let's try this again!" Shiki finished the last of his chocolate bar. The Smiley Person stood up.

"Well, if you can introduce me to her, that'd be great!" He said, leaving. As he did so, he brushed his long hair from his neck. Instantly Shiki smelt dried blood amid the perfume, as well as the scent of an ex-human lingering on the blood. The Smiley Person had been bitten by an ex-human some time ago. And there was a trace of another… Shiki yawned. This was going to be a tiring day.

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	3. Stirring Suspicions

**Hello! It's me again. Whew, I had a pretty rough week. Sorry for the late update. Enjoy! Please Review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight.**

**Everything in this story is also a work of fiction, and so it does not have any correlation with with real people, places, or etc.**

* * *

Rima got out of the changing room, and remembered what Manager-san had told her during the break to do after the job was done.

"…right, go and look for Shiki in room 307." Rima said quietly to herself. Unfortunately, Nana, who also came out of the changing room, heard her.

"Shiki-kun is in room 307? Why, that's right next to where my next shoot is! I'll go with you, and how about you introduce me to him. What do you say, Rima-chan?" Nana grasped Rima's shoulder. Rima looked at her distastefully, and knew this obstinate human was not going to back off.

"… do as you want." Rima said, picking up her belongings and leaving.

"Aah! Wait up!" Nana wailed, trying to pick up her belongings as fast as possible. Rima took no notice. Nana eventually caught up with her, and started to ask questions, like "So you and Shiki-kun attend the same school? So lucky! I should ask my father if I could attend!" "What does Shiki-kun do in his free time?" "Does he like any sweets?" Finally Rima became annoyed.

"I told you to ask him yourself." She said, as they approached the stairs to go up to the third floor. Nana puckered her lips.

"Bu-ut-" _Splash._ Water hit Nana's hair, causing it to be wet. Rima looked up. Shiki was at the top of the stairs, holding a bottle of water that was half empty.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Shiki said. "The floor was wet, so I slipped." Behind him came Manager-san, saying,

"Shiki-kun! Did I not tell you to not run off? Where were you going?" She stopped as she took in the sight. "Nana-chan! I am so sorry! Shiki-kun, did you apologize? Nana-chan, where is your manager? Oh, I'll get you a towel right away!" Nana, who was looking up at Shiki, suddenly flinched, as if she came back into reality. She smiled hugely.

"No, it's ok! It only hit my hair, and for the next shoot I'm going have to get wet anyway, so I'm fine!" She shook her hair, and as she did so Rima smelled clotted blood coming from her neck, under the fur lining of her dress. And the lingering scent of an ex-human. Why had she not noticed it before?

"I'm really sorry."Shiki said, bowing his head, as he and Manager-san descended the stairs.

"No, really, it's not your fault, Shiki-kun, I'll be all right!" With that, Nana went up the stairs, waved, and disappeared.

"…Shiki." Rima said, still surprised.

"Later." Shiki said in an undertone, as Manager-san began to rant about how he had to be more careful.

"-Seriously, Shiki-kun, it was a good thing Nana-chan was ok with the whole thing, but please be more careful! Other models could have gotten very angry over this, you know! Now, come, we only have three hours until the next shoot!" Manager-san led them out to her car, and they got on, out to the pouring rain outside. "Mason Street, right?" Shiki nodded. Rima put her fingers on the window, where rain was rolling down it outside, like tears.

"Rima." Shiki called.

"?" Rima looked at Shiki.

"There was a guy in my group who wanted to meet you. What are you going to do?"

"…I don't want to. Too much of a hassle." Rima then looked outside again. It was silent the rest of the trip.

* * *

"Here we are, Mason Street."

"Thank you."

"Remember to call me when you're done, and don't get drenched!" Their manager called after them as they climbed out of the car. Shiki stood there, staring into space. Rima's umbrella went above his head.

"Shiki, don't just stand there. Let's get this over with."

"..un." Shiki nodded. "We're almost there." He began to walk.

"So," Rima said. "Shiki, spill it." Shiki cocked his head to his side. "I know you didn't spill water on her on accident. How did you know?"Shiki was silent, looking at the rain.

"Ah, luck?" Shiki said, staring off. Rima stepped on his shoe. "There was a model at my workplace who was the same as her, with lots of perfume, a covered neck. I smelled another ex-human's scent somewhere else, so I traced the smell."

"And you found her, and splashed water to get rid of her perfume, which we couldn't smell the blood through, to check. But that's almost…" Rima's eyes darkened. Shiki said nothing. They rounded the corner to a house that was clearly abandoned, wizened with age and run down with ivy.

"As if both of the bitten humans wore perfume to mask the smell of blood, which means they know about us." Shiki finished her sentence. Rima looked up.

"…so they knew that we are vampires?"

"No, I don't think they knew that, otherwise they wouldn't have gotten close to us."

"Is the one we're deleting one of them?"

"I don't think so. We'll talk to Ichijou-san about this; he'll know what to do."

"…" Rima nodded. "Let's finish this quickly." They walked in. Like the outside, the inside was filled with rotting wood and more ivy. Now that they were inside, she could distinctly feel the presence of the target, which had been covered up by rain. The target was in the upper level, by the window, probably lying in wait for an unlucky human that happened to come across that way. Shiki walked up the stairs, and she followed, holding onto her dripping umbrella.

_Bakin_. "Ah." Shiki had gotten almost to the top of the stairs, when he had stepped on a rotten step. The step snapped in two with a loud noise as Shiki flawlessly jumped to the next step.

_Bang._ In an instant the target, hearing them, blasted through the wall. It roared with its voice, a voice of something gone insane, something it never was intended to be. Its eyes were blood red, a bottomless pit of lust and craving for blood, filled with insatiable thirst, without any reason or humanity in it. Its mouth was open, large fangs protruding from the gums, its tongue hanging out in anticipation for blood. It bore no resemblance to what it once was, a human. It was a beast, a mutated being that was turned from human to vampire. The lowest of the lowest. An It. A Level E.

"…blood…." It said, screeching once again. It sprang toward Rima and Shiki. Shiki bit his finger, blood spurting out. It encircled the Level E. Delete.

* * *

"Eh?" Ichijou said, his eyes wide in surprise. "You went and deleted the Level E according to the Council's orders?" Rima and Shiki nodded. They had gotten back to the Night Class Dorms after their job was over. There their classmates were lounging, as it was a day where there was no class. Ichijou had been sorting the library books in the Night Class Tower when they had come. "W-wait a second, you two had work."

"..un. We fitted it in between our schedule." Shiki said, taking some books off the cart Ichijou was sorting off of and sorting it. Rima followed suit.

"Ah, thanks. Wait, you could have left it to me, you know, you guys were tired from working yesterday after all…" Ichijou had a very guilty expression on his face. "You didn't have to, you could have told me and I would have done it."

"But Ichijou-san is always doing things he doesn't need to do, like this." Rima pointed out, placing another book on a shelf. "Shiki, that book goes over there."

"Ah."Shiki replied. "My bad."

"That's true, but…" Ichijou's voice trailed off. "Oh well. Thank you very much. Anyway, what did you want to talk to me about?" Rima and Shiki turned to face him.

"Ah, that." Shiki said. "The two models we modeled with today seemed to know about us vampires." Ichijou's expression suddenly turned serious.

"What? That you two were vampires?" He locked the doors of the vacant library, and sat down on one of the sofas. "It's fine, don't bother about the books. The maids will take care of them. Tell me about it." Shiki nodded.

"No, but I think they were aware of the existence. There was one person named 'Katsuya' in my modeling group who had been bitten by an ex-human. There was one in Rima's group, too." Rima nodded.

"How did you know about that?" Ichijou pressed, his eyebrows coming together.

"They both had something that covered their neck, as well as an overpowering amount of perfume on. In 'Katsuya's case, he had long hair that covered his neck, but when the hair moved, I could smell the blood."

"In 'Nana's case, she had long hair, and she wore a dress with fur lining around the collar." Rima spoke.

"So you guys are trying to say that it would be normal if the victims had the puncture marks and were either ranting about a vampire, or didn't remember anything about it, but it's not like that. It's like they're trying to cover up the fact that they've been bitten from other vampires. Is that correct?" Ichijou asked. Shiki and Rima nodded. "I see. That is, strange, as you say. Good work, you can sleep now. I'll tell Kaname about it." Ichijou got up to go. On his way out he called, "Make sure to get some sleep!" The door then closed.

"Ne, Shiki." Rima said, as they looked at the door which Ichijou had gone through.

"Nn?" Shiki asked.

"Ichijou-san is really nice, isn't he."

"Nn."

"To the point where he's too nice."

"Nn."

* * *

"Sorry I had to bring bad news to you, Kaname, but what do you think?" Ichijou said worriedly, standing over by Kaname, who was sitting pensive, after hearing what had happend.

"It seems as though the ex-humans who did it are trying to cleverly escape detection from the Council." Ichijou knitted his eyebrows together.

"What do you mean, Kaname?"

"What do we not know?"

"Huh? Well, if we are talking about that, then we don't know why the two victims are keeping silent, and if the two ex-humans are working together or not."

"It might merely be a case of exaggeration. Though there is a possibility that the two victims know about us, but there is also a possibility that they have no idea, and coincidentally happen to wear an excessive amount of perfume, though I agree with you."

"…True. Well, in that case, then what we can say for sure is that two vampires went and took a victim each to take blood from. That multiplies what we don't know, though. Now we don't know whether the two victims know or not, and if they do, the reason why they are keeping silent, and whether the two vampires are in alliance with each other." Kaname nodded, closing his eyes.

"Since this is a matter outside of this school, I won't look into it, but I will inform the Chairman. It's all right." Ichijou looked at Kaname.

"All right, Kaname."

* * *

**I'm sort of anxious about this chapter, as it might be confusing. If so, please tell me!**

**Thanks for reading! If you have the time, please review!**


	4. A Little Break Before Reality

**Hi! I am back! My computer has been restored, and I will eternally thank the person who fixed it(They managed to fix it without erasing any of my music or document files)!**

**Anyway, enjoy! ^_^**

**Everything in this story is also a work of fiction, and so it does not have any correlation with with real people, places, or etc.**

* * *

"Aaah, I'm bored!" Aidou wailed in the lobby, flailing his arms around. Akatsuki and Ruka looked at him witheringly, as Rima and Shiki looked on. It was a few hours after they had talked to Ichijou, and they had agreed to let him take care of the affair.

"Honestly, Hanabusa, you'll never grow up," Ruka said, annoyed, "We're supposed to be quietly doing work or quietly spending our leisure time relaxing, you know."

"But I know all this stuff already. I'm bored!"

"Then quietly relax." Akatsuki said, closing his book.

"But I can't relax! I can't relax when I want to do something fun!"

"Then go do something 'fun'!" Ruka cried, taking out her irritation on a period at the end of a sentence, causing the paper to dent.

"But it's raining!"

"Hey, hey, you guys!" Ichijou came in, grinning. "If you want to do something 'fun' indoors, then let's play hide and seek!" Ruka and Aidou looked at him, blown away by his statement.

"…Ichijou, are you a kid?"

"What, you said 'something fun,' so hide and go seek! You guys weren't suggesting anything, so I suggested something. So what do you say?"

"I'll play," Shiki said. Rima nodded. Ichijous looked at them, worried.

"Have you two gotten any sleep?" Shiki and Rima nodded. "Okay, then you can play."

"Ichijou-san…" Rima tugged at his shirt.

"Oh, on that matter, Kaname'll take care of it. This is a good game to blow away any worries, too." Ichijou smiled, and looked up. "Ok, so who's playing?" While he had been talking with Rima and Shiki, the others had been looking at him incredulously.

"Oh, whatever, I'm bored, so I'll play!" Aidou said.

"Aidou-san, that just told us that you really wanted to play.." Shiki commented. Aidou whipped around.

"I do not! But I'm bored, so I'll play!" Ruka laughed.

"Well, I'm not really doing anything, so I'll play." Ichijou's eyes lit up.

"Great! How about you, Akatsuki? Are you playing?"

"Sure." Akatsuki sighed, putting down his book.

"Ok, then! I'll explain the rules!" Ichijou said cheerfully.

"It's hide and seek, so I don't think you need to tell us the rules…" Aidou muttered. Ichijou heard him.

"No! We have to explain the rules so that no one gets lost or goes outside!"

"Just give up, Hanabusa. You should have expected this." Ruka whispered to Hanabusa. He sighed.

"Anyways, the rules! First: You cannot go outside to hide! It must be inside the Night Class Dorm. Second: You are not allowed to hide in a person's room, so hiding is limited to the library, the clock tower, and lobby. Do not hide in the bathroom, either. Third: If you are not found within an hour, everyone found so far will go find you. Got that? Then let's start by picking the finder! I have a number in my head. Whoever guesses the closest to it will be 'it'!" Ichijou closed his eyes. The others looked at each other, sighed inaudibly, and started picking numbers.

"Zero point eight." Shiki called lazily.

"Infinity." Rima called.

"99!" Hanabusa said, not about to be outdone.

"16." Ruka said, folding her arms.

"4." Akatsuki said.

"Ok! The number I chose is… 20! So Ruka, you are 'it'! Count to 30, then you can start!" With that, Ichijou went sprinting off into the hallway. The rest of them stood there, frozen. Ruka sighed yet again.

"I guess I better get started. You guys better make it worth the while." She closed her eyes. "One, two, three, four, five…"

"Uh, we should get started too, I guess." Aidou said, still quite incredulous, and they dispersed.

* * *

"-sorry to disturb you so late at night." Voices were coming from the Chairman's room. Who could it be? It was so late… Yuuki opened the door.

"Um, Chairman?" She saw Kamame, and Chairman Cross. They turned to look at her. She jumped. "Ah! Oh, excuse me, Kaname-sempai! Sorry, I'll leave the room."

"No, we were ending our conversation. And I have something to say to you, so stay." Kaname said. "You too, Kiryuu-kun." Yuuki looked behind her. Zero was standing in the doorway, glaring at Kaname.

"So, what did you want to tell them, Kaname-kun?" Chairman Cross cut in.

"To put it simply, there were two separate vampire attacks upon two people outside the academy, not far from here. I understand that you two go outside to buy supplies for school, so I wanted to tell you to be careful upon those trips." Kaname smiled. "Good night." He turned to leave.

"Ah, good night, Kaname-sempai." Yuuki replied automatically.

"So?" Zero asked brusquely as soon as the door closed. "What was that bloodsucker doing here?"

"Hey, Zero!" Yuuki reproached. The Chairman paid no attention.

"Well, as I am going to have to send you out of the academy from time to time, I'll tell you. Kaname-kun was telling me a more detailed version of what he just told you now." The Chairman sipped the tea from his mug. "Well, as Kaname-kun just said, two vampire attacks have occurred. The victims were two models, and it seems as though they know that they were bitten, but they aren't creating a ruckus about it. Rather, it seems like they're trying to hide the fact that they were bitten."

"Eh, why?" Yuuki asked, surprised. The Chairman took another sip from his tea.

"That's what we don't know." Yuuki thought about it.

"Couldn't the two victims be something like beginners in vampire hunting-or something like that, and got bitten- and didn't want anyone to know about it, so they are trying to hide it?" Yuuki said, her eyes showing that she clearly wished that were true. Zero broke her bubble.

"Impossible." Zero said as soon as she finished speaking, narrowing his eyes. He was glaring, and his anger was plain. Every word he uttered was filled with menance and force. "A vampire hunter who gets bitten by a vampire is a disgrace. Besides, even if the two victims were beginners in vampire hunters, they wouldn't have just let the vampire bite them. And they wouldn't keep silent about things like that." Yuuki flinched.

"Ah, that's right…sorry." She apologized, angry at herself. Stupid, why did she have to bring that up? Zero's parents were killed by a vampire. Saying that was probably like…

"Well, it's something outside of the academy, so you don't need to worry much about it while you're in here. Nothing to worry about." The Chairman said, flinging his hands about as if that would make the gloom that had settled in the room disappear. "So? What did you come here for?"

"Uh," Yuuki suddenly started out of her thoughts. "Oh, I just came to say that I'm done with tonight's patrolling, and that I was going to bed. That's all." The Chairman's face turned into an expression of joy.

"Yuuki came to say 'good night' to me! I'm the happiest father on earth as of this moment, Yuuki!" He danced around in his armchair.

"Ah, ok." Yuuki said. She turned to leave. "Zero? Aren't you leaving, too?" Zero looked at her.

"No."He replied. Yuuki smiled.

"Ok, good night." She then left.

"What did you want to talk to me about, Chairman?" Zero asked, irritated, as soon as Yuuki closed the door.

"Well, it's on what you just heard right now…"

* * *

"Honestly, Takuma-sama, are you serious?" Ruka asked, after she had found Ichijou hiding in a huge, empty vase in the library. His body had fit inside, but even though he had become as small as he could, his blonde hair, which was visible from outside the pot, ratted him out right away.

"Ah, I got caught!" Ichijou looked around, and saw Aidou. "Oh hi Aidou. What were you hiding in?"

"That's just it. His case was so pathetic; I can't begin to tell you!" Ruka said impatiently, looking at other places. Ichijou inched his way to Aidou's side.

"So, where'd you hide?" Ichijou asked quietly to Aidou. Aidou looked away, annoyed. Ichijou looked at him curiously. Aidou looked away again, and Ichijou looked at him curiously. Aidou's silence finally broke.

"Oh, fine! I'll tell you! I couldn't make up my mind on where to hide, so I was looking for a place to hide when Ruka found me, so there!" Aidou folded his arms, a picture of injured dignity. Ichijou's face was surprised for a second.

"Pfft."

"Ichijou, be quiet! You weren't hiding in a great place either!" Aidou said, as Ichijou broke out in laughter. Ruka looked at him patronizingly as she looked under a sofa.

"At least he made the _effort_ to hide somewhere." She then put the sofa down, and checked under the cushions of the sofa. She sighed. "Found you, Shiki." Shiki, who had been under the sofa's cushions, opened his eyes.

"Ah, I was found."

"Seriously, what would have happened to you if someone had sat on you?" Ruka scolded, going on to search in an empty bookshelf. Shiki ignored her.

"Ah, Ichijou-san's laughing." Shiki pointed to Ichijou, who was, indeed, laughing.

"Quit it, Ichijou!" Aidou said, shaking Ichijou.

"A-hahaha, sorry, it's just, puhahaha, your reaction, hahahaha…."

"He's lost it." Aidou said, turning around.

"…it's just, hahaha, Aidou, you act, hahahaha, so much, like, hahaha, a kid, hahaha…" Ichijou wiped a tear from his eye.

"Wha-" Aidou cried indignantly. Ruka snickered as she checked behind the bookshelf.

"He's right, Aidou-san…" Shiki commented. Aidou looked offended.

"A-hahahahaha…you really, hahaha, are funny, Aidou, hahahahaha…"

"Shut up!" Aidou said, finally getting irritated.

"Haaa… That was fun." Ichijou said, lying on the lobby couch after they had found everyone.

"Seriously," Ruka said, fixing her hair. "Who would have thought that Akatsuki was hiding in the window behind all the curtains, or that Rima was hiding in a book cart?" She tapped her lip with her finger. "Come to think of it, those are very obvious places to hide."

"So," Shiki asked, "Who won?"

"Hmmm. Let's see, Aidou was found first, then me, then Shiki, and then Rima, so Akatsuki won, so he's 'it' next." Ichijou said, counting off with his fingers. "Want to play again?"

"Not right now." Ruka and Aidou said in unison.

"Okay," Ichijou said, smiling. "Then next time, when we're bored."

"Next time, I'll definitely win!" Aidou said. "Well, only if I'm bored enough."

"Aidou-san, that sounds like an excuse…" Shiki commented. Aidou flushed. Ichijou laughed. Even Ruka and Akatsuki couldn't suppress a smile. Rima looked amused, but couldn't suppress a yawn. Ichijou took a look at the clock. It was six in the morning.

"Oh, it's already this late. We'd better go to sleep, right?" Ichijou looked at the others. Rima and Shiki nodded.

"I'm going to bed. Goodnight." Shiki said, yawning and leaving.

"Me too." Rima said, going towards her room. "Shiki, your room is that way."

"Ah. My bad." Shiki said, turning the other way. Ruka snickered.

"I'm going to bed too." She said, and headed towards her room. One by one all of them left the room to their respective rooms.

* * *

**Thank you for reading! Reviews will be very appreciated! **


	5. Day dominated by Night

**Ugh. School has throughly exhausted me. Anyway, enjoy the chapter :) Not to give it away, but this fic is coming to an end soon.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight, nor do I own the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.**

**Everything in this story is also a work of fiction, and so it does not have any correlation with with real people, places, or etc.**

* * *

"Fuwaaa!" Yuuki yawned. Oh no, it was only the second class and she was already this tired. Yesterday had been tiring too, patrolling all night. If this was how she was to live during high school, how was she supposed to survive?

"Yuuki, are you alright?" Sayori said, looking worriedly at Yuuki. Yuuki jumped in surprise.

"Ah, Yori-chan! Ah, I'm fine, see?" Yuuki flailed her arms about, as if to prove her alertness.

"Liar." Sayori said, "That was your 10th yawn this morning." Yuuki flinched.

"Well, that is- um, uh.." Yuuki tried to come up with an excuse, but Sayori plowed on.

"What a terrible father the Chairman is. Making his only daughter work as a prefect, doesn't he care about your health?"

"Ah, um, well, uh, i-it's really rainy today too, isn't it? The ground is really muddy and…" Yuuki tried to take Sayori's mind off of her duty as prefect. Seriously, at this rate Yori-chan was going to hate the Chairman because of her!

"Hm. Now that you mention it, it is raining heavily today as well." Sayori sighed. "It's going to make everything gloomy. It'll be terrible if this continues. So depressing…" Yuuki inwardly sighed, relieved. She had successfully averted Yori-chan's focus! But… Her thoughts kept going back to what Kaname-sempai and the Chairman said. She sighed, then jumped as Sayori peered into her face.

"Huh? I'm fine, I'm fine!"

"Really?" Sayori looked, worried. "That was the 7th time you sighed today. Your father isn't working you too hard, is he?"

"A-ahahahaha…" Yuuki did her best to put on a smile.

* * *

"Ne, Shiki." Rima said over the picture book in her hand after the clock turned to one in the morning. A week had passed since the incident and the hide-and-seek.

"Nn?" He asked over the book he was reading.

"Has anything happened since then?"

"…that person's ex-human is biting him more frequently. The ex-human will probably fall soon. How about Rima?"

"Same, probably. She's putting on so much perfume; you could smell it from across the hallway."

"Hmm. That's about it." Shiki glanced at Rima. "What about it?"

"Nn. Nothing. What are you reading? A novel?" Rima peered at the book. "THE COMPLETE COLLECTION OF SHERLOCK HOLMES by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle." She looked up at him.

"It's interesting." Shiki said. Rima sat next to him.

"Hmm." Moments passed. "It's raining."

* * *

"Haa." Sayori sighed.

"Yori-chan, aren't you asleep yet? What's wrong, staring out the window and then sighing?" Yuuki asked. She had gotten back from patrolling in time to see Sayori looking out the window.

"No, I was just thinking, that, this month, even though school just started, that it's raining… a lot." Sayori looked into the distance, at the window as she said this.

"Hmm. Now that you mention it, it has been raining a lot." Yuuki said worriedly. "I hope nothing floods.."

"Yeah. I'll go to bed. Good night."

* * *

"Kain, Aidou." Kaname said, turning back to look at them.

"What did you summon us for, Kaname –sama?" Aidou asked.

"I want you two to patrol the borders in the daytime. Can I ask you to do that?" Kaname asked. "It'll be raining, so you won't have to worry about the sun."

"We'll go even with the sun out, Dorm Leader." Akatsuki said. Kaname smiled.

"Thank you, Kain. You two really spoil me."

"Is there anything else you'd like us to do?" Aidou asked. Kaname leaned on the table, deep in thought.

"Just make sure nothing gets inside the school."

"Yes, Kaname-sama." Kain and Aidou both bowed, and went out the door.

"I wonder why we were told to do this." Aidou said.

"Hanabusa, our job for Kaname-sama is to obey, not to ask why." Akatsuki chided.

"I-I know that!" Aidou cried. Akatsuki sighed.

"We should sleep now; we won't have time to sleep in the day."

* * *

In the woods by Cross Academy, the ground was wet and muddy. The ground was muddy, even swamp like, that any animal living within the ecosystem was in their nests, snug and warm, as the rain poured outside. It would have been a normal forest on a rainy, miserable day, if it were not for something stirring up in the treetops. The rain served to mask the intruders, and the leaves of the trees hid them. The arboreal intruders waited, the rain covering all of their sounds. Waiting until it was time.

* * *

"It's terrible, day after day, rain."

"I know! When it's raining this much, we can't go and see the Night Class, otherwise we'll get soaked!"

"I know, I hate it!"

"I can't see my beloved Idol-sempai!"

"Hey, he's not yours!" Yuuki sighed as she listened to the girls of the Day Class squabble over the Night Class before class. But there was some truth to their words. It was raining almost too much, and it was depressing. She always had to come back wet after patrolling at night. She snickered. Well, at least less girls showed up when the Night Class went to class. But seriously… since the past week it's been raining, and when it hadn't been raining it was cloudy.

"Yuuki, you're staring into space." Sayori said. "Is the rain also getting to you?"

"It makes me want to take a nap." Yuuki said. "It's still so early.." Sayori chuckled.

"I don't think that makes much of a difference, you sleep so much in class anyway. Take care not to get a cold when you're patrolling, I don't want you to spread it to me."

"No, Yori-chan, I'm perfectly fine!" Yuuki waved her hands around, and felt something hit it. She turned around to see that she had hit Zero's head while he was sleeping.

"Ack." Yuuki said, fearful. "Ah, are you ok, Zero?"

"What are you doing, Yuuki?" Zero growled as his head rose from the desk, where he had been resting it.

"Ah, um, sorry! But hey, at least you'll be awake for class, right?" Yuuki smiled, hoping that Zero wouldn't be _too_ mad at her. At that moment the teacher came in. Yuuki tried to focus on the lecture, even though she could feel Zero glaring murderously at her.

* * *

"It's great that there's no sun, now if there was no rain, it will be pleasant." Aidou complained as he and Akatsuki stood out in the rain, on the lookout as Kaname had told them to.

"Hanabusa, let's split up. I'll take the east side of the Academy, you take the west side." Akatsuki suggested, narrowing his eyes at the forest. "I don't know what it is, but there is something." Aidou nodded.

* * *

"Eh? Shiki, Rima, you guys are still in here?" Ichijou said, surprised, as he came in the library. It was eight in the morning, and he had come to return some books when he saw Shiki and Rima.

"Ah, Ichijou-san. Should we leave?" Shiki asked, looking up.

"No, it's ok. Just make sure to sleep by 10. Anyway, what are you two reading?" He went over by the beanbags they were sitting on, and sat down. Shiki lifted the book up.

"THE COMPLETE COLLECTION OF SHERLOCK HOLMES by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Weren't you reading this when I came in here at two?" Ichijou asked, smiling.

"Ah, Rima and I were trying to solve it along the way." Shiki said blankly. "It always ends up strangely, though."

"Really? Let me see." Ichijou said. "Uh, is it ok if I with you two?" Rima and Shiki nodded, both moving so that there was space for him in the middle. He sat down, and they let him hold the book.

"Hmm. Let me see… 'A Scandal in Bohemia'." Ichijou read. For a few minutes he was silent as he read. "So, where did you guys think this Irene person hid the picture?"

"That's what we were wondering." Shiki said.

"And then we started to wonder why she was hiding it, and why that picture was so important, then it made no sense, so we skipped it." Rima said. Ichijou looked at her, surprised.

"Ah, I'll explain. It's because…"

* * *

They came upon him at once, and he didn't have time. He used his fire power, but in the rain, that was close to useless, and at the rate he was going, even if he took four of them down at a time, there were too many for him to do alone. At this rate, they would get into the school.

"Hanabusa!"

* * *

Aidou had had a bad feeling. Ex-humans, and lots of them. He turned around to run back to Akatsuki, when he heard his name being called.

* * *

Kaname stood up. As he had thought, he should have put more Night Class students on the lookout.

"Seiran." He called. Seiran appeared, bowing low.

"What is your bidding, my master?"

"You know what to do. Go." Within a second she was gone. Kaname sighed, his eyes glowing red in anger. It wasn't even the time in his game to do this. Now to finish this up. He opened the door. Within a second, he, too, was gone.

* * *

"…so you see, she was using it for-!" Ichijou's eyes widened. Ex-humans. On campus. Rima and Shiki looked at him. He smiled. "Sorry, I have to go to the bathroom. I'll be back soon, so stay here, alright?" Rima and Shiki stared at his retreating figure.

"Ichijou-san is also very bad at lying." Rima commented.

"Nn." Shiki said, nodding. "Rima, let's go." They both stood up, and opened the window to jump out into the pouring rain.

* * *

"Akatsuki, what is this? I can feel ex-humans. Why are they here?" Ruka asked, coming out of the Night Class Dorms. Blood of one of a Level E spattered onto her clothes. Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw ex-humans swarm at her. Akatsuki saw her, his eyes wide in fear.

"Ruka!"

* * *

"-uuki, Yuuki." Nh. Somehow, the class was more rowdy than usual. Yuuki's eyes opened to Sayori's shaking. She was right. The class was more rowdy than usual. And Zero was gone.

"Yori-chan, what happened?"

"That's just it, Yuuki. In the middle of class Kiryuu-kun just stood up and ran out, and then one of our classmates noticed that the Night Class Dorm was on fire." At this, Yuuki stood up, frantically looking at the window. Yori-chan was right. The Night Class Dorm was on fire. She felt like her heart was turning to ice. No, Yuuki! She told herself. Calm down!

"Ah, Yuuki!" Sayori cried as Yuuki launched herself out from her seat and ran out the door. Yuuki ran frantically. Kaname-sempai!

* * *

Zero was running towards the fray, taking his gun out of his breast pocket and taking the safety off of it. What were those Level E's doing on campus? And what are the bloodsuckers doing? He narrowed his eyes. Have they become drunk on the scent of blood? He turned at the sound of someone's voice.

"Zero!" It was Yuuki, almost as drenched as he was.

"Yuuki! What are you doing here?"

"Zero!" Panic was etched into her face, her eyes filled with despair; it was like her world was to be destroyed.

"Yuuki! What are you doing? Where's your Artemis?" Zero stopped her, seeing that she was completely unarmed. Yuuki paid no attention, but ran right by him.

"Wha- Yuuki!" Zero grabbed her arm. She looked back at him, her eyes frantic.

"Let go of me, Zero!" Yuuki cried, looking in fear at the Night Class dorm. Zero looked in that direction, still keeping hold of her arm. It was burning. Oh, so that's what she was concerned about. "No- Kaname-sempai!"

"Yuuki!" Zero shouted, trying to get her to snap out of it as the fire spread, its reflection dancing in Yuuki's eyes.

"No.." Yuuki said in a whisper, covering her eyes with her fingers. Zero grimaced. It was no use. He could see that she wouldn't listen to a thing he said. She had lost all reason. He punched her in the stomach, trying as hard as possible not to cause pain. Yuuki slid down to the ground as he caught her. He cursed inwardly. Now he couldn't go and massacre every single one of those bloodsuckers. He went in the direction of the Chairman's quarters.

* * *

"Ruka!" Akatsuki cried frantically, jumping onto the roof of the Night Class Dorm, where Ruka lay surrounded by the dust of what was just minutes ago ex-humans who had been thirsting for her blood. "Ruka, are you all right?" Ruka stood up, shaking the dust off of her clothes. Her expression was that of disdain.

"Of course I am. What are they doing here, Akatsuki?"

"I have no idea. Dorm Leader told us to stand guard, and they came." Ruka's eyes widened.

"Kaname-sama did…" Ruka's eyes turned pensive. More Level E surrounded them, overcoming their natural fear of vampire nobles in favor of their bloodlust. Ruka's eyes narrowed in contempt. The frontline of the Level E burst into flames. Suddenly, a Level E jumped above the rest, aiming for Ruka. Just as Akatsuki's fire burned it, a sword went through its chest. Behind the dispersing dust stood Ichijou, his expression grim. Aidou followed after him.

"Takuma-sama." Ruka said, her eyes wide.

"Hi. I felt them, and came and found Aidou." Everyone nodded.

"Let's finish this."

* * *

"So…" Kaname said quietly, his eyes transfixed on the figure before him. "You're the one who dared to disturb this school's peace." The figure's face, although unable to move, was frozen in fear.

"I'm sorry, Kuran Kaname-sama. I had no idea that this was your territory." Kaname pretended not to hear him.

"Quite ingenious. You got together about a hundred ex-humans, all who were falling to Level E, and fed them gullible humans who would feel honored to have a vampire suck on their blood. After a while, when their intervals of 'starvation' increased drastically, you positioned them so that they would come to this school, where there is so much blood, as well as protection, so that when they fell to Level E, they would attack, keeping the defensive vampire nobles busy as you slip off and go to feast. Am I right, you normal vampire?" Kaname's eyes blazed red. The vampire bowed his head.

"Yes, you're right. But Kuran Kaname-sama, the nobles, they get to feast on the students, am I right? Surely there is enough to go around?" Kaname's eyes narrowed.

"You are wrong. And I am tired of this banter." The vampire's eyes widened as Kaname stepped towards him. After a few minutes, all that was left of the vampire was dust. Kaname wiped his bloodstained mouth.

* * *

"Ah, Ichijou-san." Shiki said, as his whiplike blood went through several more Level E vampires. Ichijou, Akatsuki, Ruka, and Aidou had finished destroying the Level E's in their area, and they had come to finish the remaining few. Rima landed next to him, the vampire she had stabbed turning to dust.

"Shiki! Rima! Didn't I tell you to stay in the dorm?" Ichijou said, his expression worried.

"Ichijou-san… you're bad at lying." Rima said quietly. Ichijou turned as he went towards another Level E.

"Right now isn't the time for it, but I'm angry at you, you understand?"

"Rima, Ichijou-san doesn't sound mad, he sounds relieved…" Shiki commented. Ichijou tried to ignore him. Rima closed her eyes in agreement.

"That's true. But first things first, Shiki, otherwise Dorm Leader Kuran would be mad." Rima nudged him gently. Shiki nodded. Within minutes the remaining Level Es had been eradicated to dust.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Please review if you have the time!**


	6. Epilogue: The Veiled Truth

**Yay! The final chapter! Or would this be called an epilogue? Yeah, I think this is an epilogue. ^_^ Either way, please enjoy, and thank you for your patience!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Knight.**

**Everything in this story is also a work of fiction, and so it does not have any correlation with with real people, places, or etc.**

* * *

"..ngh." Yuuki woke up, and found herself in the Chairman's quarters. The Chairman was looking at her worriedly.

"Are you awake now, Yuuki?"

"..Un." Yuuki nodded. What… had happened? Then it hit her, like a jolt of lightning. "Kaname-sempai! Where is he? Is he all right?"

"Relax, Yuuki." She turned at the sound of the voice. It was Kaname, sitting beside her, looking at her warmly. A wave of relief washed over her, and she started to feel guilty because of it.

"Are you ok, Yuuki?" The Chairman asked as she lied down on the bed again.

"Uh, yeah. I just remembered that the Night Class dorm was on fire, and…" She blushed. "…I guess I panicked." The Chairman sighed in relief, stood up, and put his coat on.

"Well, I'm going to patrol tonight, so you can rest, Yuuki. I'm sure that Kaname-kun can fill you in on what happened."

"Oh, thank you." Yuuki said. Chairman Cross smiled at his daughter, and left. After the door had closed, there was a rather awkward silence between Yuuki and Kaname. Yuuki looked at Kaname, and he looked back at her. It was so awkward…

"Uh,… so Kaname-sempai, um…" Yuuki looked down at her sheets, scrunching them in nervousness, when she remembered something that was bothering her. She looked up abruptly. "Why was the Night Class Dorm on fire? Was there an accident?" Kaname put his hand on her cheek. She could feel her face go warm.

"Calm down, Yuuki." Kaname said, looking at her gently. "There had been an accident. The lightning hit the tower, and caused it catch on fire. No one was hurt." Yuuki's face relaxed.

"I'm glad." She smiled. "I saw Zero as I was panicking, so I thought the Night Class Students might have gotten hurt, and I'm glad they didn't. But, it's really a good thing that Kaname-sempai was all right…" Yuuki said without thinking, then realized what she had just said when she noticed Kaname looking at her.

"Ah, um! Sorry, um, what I meant was that it was really good that everyone was all right." Yuuki flapped her arms about, trying to rectify what she had said. Kaname smiled, holding her hair gently.

"Its okay, Yuuki. I'm happy that you were concerned about me." Yuuki blinked, her face turning crimson. Kaname seemed to chuckle as he stood up. "Well, I need to go back. Get some sleep, Yuuki."

"Yes!" Yuuki nodded, looking out the window after he left. But really, she was so glad…

_Kclack_. Kaname closed the door of Chairman Cross' private quarters. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at Zero leaning on the wall by the doorway.

"So, as we agreed, Kiryu-kun, I told Yuuki nothing about the matter." Kaname said, his eyes looking coldly at Zero. Zero opened his eyes and glared at him.

"We didn't agree about anything, Kuran. You decided that on your own." He emphasized the name Kuran. He smiled, as if in irony. "I could go in there and tell her that the Level E's were there, instead of that fake story. She should know what beasts you all are." Kaname closed his eyes, and smiled as well.

"Oh yes, Kiryu-kun, you would do that, if it didn't expose you to Yuuki." Zero's face became a face filled with hatred, and his hand dove down to his breast pocket to his Bloody Rose. The safety went off, and he pointed it at Kaname. Kaname smiled as he walked away. "Mr. Prefect, you're scary."

"… Kuran." Zero's hand shook in rage, his face an expression of pure hatred. One day…

* * *

"Shiki." Rima said, as they returned to the library to read Sherlock Holmes.

"Hn?" Shiki looked at her.

"Why did those two let the ex-humans have their blood?"

"Those two?" Shiki asked, as his stomach growled. Rima sighed. She reached into her pocket and took out a box of Pocky, opened it, and held it out to him.

"Shiki." Shiki took one.

"Are these Aidou-san's?" Rima nodded, then poked him.

"The two models we each worked with." Shiki bit the Pocky with a loud _bakin_, looking pensive.

"… maybe they were stupid?" _Pokin._ Rima bit into her Pocky.

"…but even they, who are stupid, know when they are in danger." Rima said. Shiki opened the library door. By the door was a cartful of new books that had just come in, waiting to be organized. Shiki wordlessly picked one up and read the summary dryly.

"'He was gorgeous. But he was, as poets say, the beautiful poison apple that could've killed Snow White, if it weren't for the prince. However, in this situation there was no prince, no alternative. The beautiful poisonous apple was my prince. Before I had known it I was in love with this beautiful, mysterious, dreamlike, captivating being that was hardly human. Even though I knew this was doomed love, I still longed for him. The unfair price of the poison was, in my eyes, fair, as long as I could be with him.' See?" Shiki turned the book over to Rima, as if that explained everything.

"How strange." Shiki nodded. _Bakin._

"They might have wanted their lives to be like this… or something." Rima's eyes narrowed.

"Don't they have any idea?" Her voice was dangerously low.

"If they did, I doubt they'd write stuff like this." Shiki commented.

"..." Rima sat down on a beanbag, irritated. "I'm glad I'm a vampire. I wouldn't be able to stand myself being as delusional as a human."

"But we vampires have feelings too, like them. It's just a matter of living longer."

"…"Rima looked at the Pocky box, which she had bent in her anger. "No, Shiki. We live longer. We have a conscience. And we have to drink blood, or have blood tablets to live. Because of those things, a life of a vampire is mired with sadness." Shiki looked at her as he took another Pocky. Rima looked back at him.

"What're you so worried about, Shiki. Even if it's hard, I don't think it's that bad. I still rather be a myself right now than that model with a delusion." Shiki relaxed, nodding, biting into his Pocky._ Bakin. _They sat in silence. When they noticed, they were looking at the sky.

"…Rima." Shiki said. Rima looked at him. "Ichijou-san said that their memories are going to be erased. So it'll be alright." Rima closed her eyes, and looked at the sky again. It was blue, with some clouds about to cover the sun. But it was a calming blue, a serene blue, a kind of blue that seemed everlasting, with no trace of humidity.

* * *

**Yes...this fic is almost like a sidestory...well, it won't change the main story in any way shape or form so I couldn't put anything drastic in there, but I hoped you enjoyed it! Thank you for reading, and I hope you continue to support me! I am thinking of putting a D. Gray-man fic next!**


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